Africa vs European Imperialism

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries European imperialism caused its countries to divide up the rest of the world, each country claiming bits as its own. Due to its large amounts of resources, Africa was one of the main areas European nations invaded in the cause if imperialism. In Africa, there were positive and negative effects towards the Africans and the invaders. Some positive effects on Africans were that they were provided with security by their rulers and new technology was introduced to them. Some of the negative effects were that the Africans lost their natural rights such as freedom, the beginning of slavery, and the loss of their land and natural resources to the ruthless colonizers. Some positive effects on Europeans were that they were able to make vast amount of money from Africa's natural resources and were able to further their financial growth because they were no obliged to pay the African laborers. A negative effect for the white's was that they lost vast amounts of money in order to obtain and keep the colony in order. Imperialism had both gains and loss's in both the Africans and the Europeans.

European imperialism cause African to suffer many negative consequences. An effects of imperialism which was negative for the Africans was that they lost their natural rights. Africans were stripped of many rights such as freedom of speech, religion, and the right to live a full life (Doc.3). Also, Africans lost the right to work for themselves and were forced by the Europeans to labor in mines or collect rubber and other plants from the wild. If the Africans were unable to complete the task or refuse, they were chastised; many had their hand and ears cut off and some were alienated. Another negative effect was that many Africans were transported to American to work as slaves. They traveled in an uncomfortable ship and some died on the way. They were victims...

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...There are several reasons why the European nations competed with each other to gain colonies in Africa. They all wanted to gain power and prestige. The more territory that they were able to control in Africa the more powerful and important they thought they could become. Africa was tremendously rich in natural resources, which could be brought to Europe and turned into manufactured goods. Europeans also needed markets for their manufactured goods. These goods could be sold in Africa for large profits. Often a European nation would take over territory in Africa simply to prevent another European country from taking it.
European rule came to Africa in many different ways. Sometimes a European trading company made agreements with Africa chiefs permitting the company to trade and keep order in the area. The traders then put pressure on their government in Europe to take over in order to protect them. In a few cases tribal chiefs voluntarily asked for the protection of one European nation in order to avoid being taken over by another European nation. Sometimes the Africans even asked for European protection against other African tribes. The African chiefs in whom they gave the European company or government the right to keep order and to take...

...EuropeanImperialism started in the early
1800's; with the goal to prove they had wealth and
power. European nations competed with each other
to gain territory in Africa. The more they gain the
more powerful they thought they would become.
Africa was soon bled of it's human resources. The
Europeans induced slavery for the beneift of the
Muslim countries, from the nineth century to the
nineteenth century. The last four centuries of which
were regular slave trade to help the Americas and the
Christian states of Europe. Approximately
twentyeight to thrityseven million slaves were taken
from Africa during those ten ccenturies.Due to the
rades by Europeans a regular commerse was
established. Some of the goods that were exchanged
for human slaves included rifles, which were used to
defend and expand the European slave trade.
Another reason the European nations believed they
could gainn power and wealth through africa was its
natural resources which could be made int o
manufactured goods in Europe. These manufactured
goods could then be turned around and resold in
Africa for a great amount of profit.
Spread of ImperialismEuropean rule came over Africa like a fire.
African chief's made agreements with some
European trading companies...

...Explain what is meant by the term imperialism.
Discuss the causes of imperialism in the 1800s.
Kamar Findlay
ID# 092165839
Mico University College
Imperialism in Africa
Mrs. Pitter
October 29, 2011
Imperialism is "the creation and or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination" (Johnston, 2000.p.375). In its simplest form Farah and Karls (2001) describes imperialism as one country’s domination of the political, economical and social life of another country. The Europeansimperialism during the 1800s occurs out of the advantages of strong economies, well organized governments and powerful armies and navies. ‘Superior technology including riverboats and telegraph, as well as improved medical knowledge also played a part’ (Esler et al 2009.p.752). Advances such as the Maxim Machines Guns and steam driven warships were very strong signals in persuading the Africans and Asian to accept European domination.
Europeanimperialism did not begin in the 1800s. European states have had empires in the Americas after 1492 and in South Asia and China. Imperialism has been found in the histories of Japan, the Assyrian Empire, the Chinese Empire, the Roman Empire,...

...Imperialism in AfricaImperialism is defined as one country's domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, imperialism was present and growing. The main countries involved in the imperialism in Africa were the French, German, and Great Britain. The French's empire was mainly in North and West Africa while Britain's colonies were scattered throughout the continent. Germany ruled over such countries as Tanganyika, Togoland, and Cameroon, until their defeat in World War I.
There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons may be that Europeans believed that the more territory a country was able to control, the more powerful and important they were believed to be. Other reasons for countries to be competing include the many natural resources that could only be found in Africa and a need for markets in surrounding places so that manufactured goods could be sold for a large profit.
When the European manufacturing plants were built, the raw materials from Africa were extracted and the company owners developed and indigenous labor force, which was managed by foreigners. This all lead to the Africans being taken over...

...Kathryn Tanner
AP European History
March 7, 2012
Free-Response Essay
Between the years of 1878 and 1914, the demand for overseas empires in Africa greatly increased. European powers acted upon this, as many influential government officials thought colonization was an important step to gaining global influence. Some believed the African colonization was an excuse, fabricated by greedy capitalists, to gain raw materials and search for new markets, while others felt they were just doing their duty to God by civilizing the “barbaric” natives. Many debated that colonization was a misuse of Africa’s resources driven purely by capitalist ideals, with those who gained from the colonization defending their actions with the theory of “the white man’s burden”, or the duty to bring civilization and enlightenment to the native people of Africa, while European political figures claimed to promote the colonization of Africa with the intention of gaining global influence.
Africa held an abundance of new sources and materials to offer through European colonization, but the morality of such endeavors caused for disagreement. The British industrialist, Joseph Chamberlain, contended in an 1888 speech that overseas expansion was not only advantageous to a society, but also utterly necessary. Although he made valid points, his argument was skewed due to his inclination to...

...Question: Analyze the policies of three European colonial powers regarding Africa between 1871 and 1914. (1997 #3)
Introduction: Between 16th and 18th centuries European powers did not usually acquire territory in Africa and Asia but rather built a series of trading stations. European migration was growing and the population was gradually decreasing in Europe and rising in places that were being conquered. The rise of new imperialism (the control of one people by another can be political, economic or cultural-) began in 1800s in Africa but even earlier in Asia. In 1800 Europeans controlled about 7% of the world's territory; by 1914, they controlled 84%! Europeans colonized Africa and Asia by using military force to take control of local governments, exploiting local economies for raw materials required by Europe's growing industry and imposing Western values to benefit the "backwards" colonies. There was a new emphasis on spreading Christianity to Africa and Asia by Western Europe. The ideology: nationalism and Social Darwinism were also an influential factor in Africa's downfall against three very powerful nations. Four European colonial powers in particular: Great Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium were the driving forces of the outreach into Africa between 1871 and 1914 due to their...

...11. Trace the history of imperialism in Africa
Before 1869, Britain only controlled a small amount of land in Africa. The British concentrated on imperialism in other, more profitable places around the world; places that would give them more markets for trade and more opportunity to increase their economy. Suddenly, the British were annexing land in places like Egypt and South Africa; in 1869 these were places that did not have monetary value.
Before the 1870's, thanks to the influence of Livingstone, the main reason for British imperialism in Africa was to bring Christianity and European-brand civilization to African countries. They also practiced imperialism for trade purposes, but very little in Africa. The British economy has always depended heavily on trade, and Britain did want the West Coast of Africa for its palm oil. They took control of it simply because the native political structure was too unstable for good commerce without British control. For trade purposes, they concentrated on practicing imperialism in India and the Caribbean. Since the slave trade in Europe was stamped out in the 1830's, the British were not very interested in Africa. People had been one of the few resources they were interested in. However, after the 1870's, the motivations behind British...

...EuropeanImperialism in Africa
As a whole, Africa was ruined by the Europeans’ greed during the early 1900’s. The European countries were very strong nationalists and they came together and decided to show their superiority by imperializing other continents and countries rather than fight with each other. They chose Africa as the best place to imperialize because of its natural resources and availability. This is what introduced the Berlin Conference. At this meeting, representatives from Great Britain, France, and other strong European players divided up Africa. There was a total disregard of the native people and each country just took what they wanted. The Africans had to work long days with little pay. Europeanimperialism caused the African natives to fall into poverty and the working conditions were horrible. To cover this up, the Europeans educated the people and introduced them to industrial things and instruments. The Europeanimperialism devastated the African people along with their land and tried unsuccessfully to justify it using education and industrialization.
While working for the explorers, the people of Africa had little pay. Their livestock and farms were used and they lost a lot of value. In an excerpt from Ndansi Kumalo’s memoir, the author...